Window shade having telescoping roller



Aug. 3l, 1965 R. c. GossLlNG ETAL 3,203,468

WINDOW SHADE HAVING TELESCOPING ROLLER 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 12, 1963 WAM/@W11 25 Aug. 3l, 1965 R. c. GOSSLING ETAL WINDOW SHADE HAVING TELESGOPING ROLLER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. l2, 1963 mf W m f, ma M w. "f I..

Aug- 31, 1965 R.c. GossLlNG ETAL 3,203,468

WINDOW SHADE HAVING TELESCOP'ING ROLLER Filed Feb. l2, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 6 60 1 EH I 62 INVENTOR5 MM ,66 ,y

WM! fr/wom United States Patent O 3,203,468 WNDW SHADE HAVING TELESCPING RLLER Robert C. Gossling and Lawrence S. Wilcorron, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignors to Clopay Corporation, Cincinnati, hio, a corporation of Maryland Filed Feb. 12, 1963, Ser. No. 257,996 3 Claims. (Cl. i60-323) This invention relates to a window shade and more particularly the invention is directed to a window shade having a roller which can be shortened by telescoping one section of the shade roller into another section.

The shade rollers now being manufactured are of two types, namely a solid wooden roller and a hollow metal roller. Each is characterized by having, at oneend, a spring motor connected between the roller .and spear which is iixed against rotation in a slotted bracket. The other end of the roller has a cap containing a gudgeon pin which is fixed to the cap and which is adapted to be rotatably mounted in a bracket.

The number of sizes of window openings into which such shade rollers must be fitted is limitless. Practically all shades will be within the range of twenty-tive to iifty inches in roller length but there are window openings for every dimension within that range and, in older houses, the window openings are frequently less than twenty-five inches wide. In the application of shades to windows, the shades must conform to the window size rather than conforming the window size to the available shades manufactured. This is true not only for newly constructed buildings, but obviously this is true for those buildings which were erected many years ago. For these reasons, when a customer wants a shade it is common practice to select an oversize shade and cut its length to conform to the size of the window opening into which the shade is to be mounted.

A principal outlet for shades and the place in which much of the cutting to size is performed is the variety store. The cutting of the shade to size is such an establishment is at best an annoying undertaking. In the case of a wooden shade roller, the operation requires first pulling the pin and cap at the end of the roller, cutting through the shade material, unwinding the cut portion of the shade material, sawing the wooden roller with the consequent scattering of sawdust, chamfering the cut end of the wooden roller and thereafter replacing the cap and pin. To minimize the difficulty it is not unusual for a shade vendor to have a somewhat cumbersome machine in which all of the operations described above are performed but are performed with somewhat more dispatch than they could be in the absence of the machine. Even with the machine, however, the shortening of shade rollers for the customer is regarded as a disagreeable and time consuming task.

An objective of the present invention has been to eliminate much of the odium attending shade cutting by providing a shade roller comprising two sections, one being telescopable into the other for supporting the shade material so that the shortening of the shade can be effected merely by cutting the shade material and the slat running through the lower edge, sliding the cut material from the roller and telescoping the projecting portion of the roller into its adjoining section. There is, however, a major problem associated With telescoping shade roller sections. The upper or inner edge of the shade material must be secured to the shade roller along its entire length in order for the shade to hang properly. In other words, if the shade Were attached only to one of the roller sections, the unattached side of the shade would tend to droop and be unattractive in appearance. The shade cannot be attached to both sections of the shade roller for then one of the sections could not telescope freely into the other.

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Another objective of the invention has been to provide a shade with telescoping roller, the combination having means for securing the upper edge of the shade material to the roller along its entire length while at the same time permitting one of the roller sections to telescope into the other. In its preferred form the invention contemplates the interposition of a tube of paper or other easily cuttable material between the smaller section of the roller and the shade material, the shade material being attached to the lower roller section and to the interposed tube. This interrelationship of rol-ler sections and shade material provides the full support for the upper edge of the shade while permitting the smaller roller section to telescope into the larger one. The attachment of the shade to both the larger roller section and the tube fixes the tube against rotation with respect to the larger roller section. On the other hand, the xed tube with the shade material attached prevents the shade material from drooping along the side depending from the smaller roller section. Preferably the paper tube should have an inside diameter at least slightly greater than the outside diameter of the cap at the end of the roller so that when it is cut, it can be slid from the roller without requiring the unwinding as is necessary with prior devices.

The improvement of which the present invention represents over the past structures can be perceived by noting the simplicity with which a shade of the present invention can be shortened. The only steps required are the slicing through the shade material and slat down to the shade roller. This slicing cuts the paper tube so that the excess can be removed by sliding it from the end of the roller. The operation is completed by pushing the smaller roller section into the larger roller section.

It has been another objective of the invention to provide a shade and telescoping roller combination which can be manufactured in three principal sizes so as to accommodate any size of shade to be cut between the minimum and maximum normally required in practice. In this regard it has been common practice to supply to the retailer approximately six sizes of rollers and in some cases it has been necessary to supply shade rollers of a great number of sizes, the lengths of the shades differing from each other by only one inch. The need to provide many different sizes of shades has been expensive from the manufacturing point of view in that the shades are manufactured from bolts of material of three standard sizes and when the off size shades are manufactured, excess shade material must be cut from the next largest standard size bolt and thrown away as waste material. Through the use of the present invention, it will be possible to sell window shades of three standard sizes corresponding to the standard bolt sizes thus eliminating the waste in the manufacture of the shades.

These and other objectives of this invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational View, partially in section, showing the invention,

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view of the joint at which the roller elements telescope,

FIGURE 3 is a disassembled perspective View illustrating the invention, and t FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 illustrate the operations required to shorten a shade manufactured in accordance with the present invention,

FIGURE 7 is a cross sectional view showing an embodiment in which two tubular roller sections of metal and/or plastic are joined in telescoping relation,

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the embodiment of FIGURE 7,

FIGURE 9 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 9 9 of FIGURE 8,

FIGURE l is a cross sectional view taken along lines 10-10 of FIGURE 8,

FIGURES l1 and 12 are diagrammatic elevational views of an alternative form of the invention, and

FIGURES 13 and 14 are diagrammatic elevational views of another alternative form of the invention.

As shown in FIGURE l, the shade indicated at 10 comprises a roller 11 to which is secured a sheet of shade material 12. Preferably the shade material is attached to the roller by means of an adhesive strip 13 as disclosed in Patent No. 2,559,410. Obviously another mode of attachment as by adhesively securing the shade material directly to the roller could be employed. The shade roller includes a steel roller 15 which is tubular and a wooden dowel 16 which is slidable into the steel roller. The dowel 16 is held in the steel roller principally by dimples 17 which are depressed into the surface of the steel roller a distance suiiicient to cut into the soft wooden dowel as it is forced into the steel roller.

At the left end of the steel roller as viewed in FIG- URE l is a spring motor 18 which includes a torque rod 19 connected to one end of a rewind spring 20. The torque rod 19 is fixed to a spear 21 which projects from the left end of the roller and is engageable with a flat slot in a window shade bracket by which the window shade is supported in the window opening. A cap 22 encloses a clutch and other operating mechanism (not shown) through which the spring and torque rod are connected to the roller to rotate the roller in winding the shade material on the roller.

At the right hand end of the shade roller and surrounding the dowel 16 is a paper tube 25. The paper tube is not aixed to the dowel and it has an inner edge 26 abutting the inner edge 27 of the steel roller. The adhesive strip 13 is adhesively secured to both the steel roller 15 and the paper tube 25 and holds the paper tube in proper position with respect to the steel roller so that the paper tube forms, in effect, an extension of the steel roller. The adhesive strip 13 prevents the paper tube from rotating with respect to the steel roller and consequently prevents any drooping of the shade material below the telescoping dowel.

At the outside end of the dowel 16 is a shoulder 28 formed to receive a pin end cap 29. By forming :a shoulder 28 on the dowel 16, the outside surface of the pin end cap lies substantially flush with the surface of the wooden dowel and as will be seen this permits the paper tube, when cut in a shortening operation, to be slid off the dowel free from obstruction by the pin end cap 29. Projecting from the pin end cap is a cylindrical gudgeon pin 30 which normally has a pointed inner end and is driven into the wooden dowel.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, it is preferred that the paper tube project outwardly beyond the end of the gudgeon pin in order to protect the gudgeon pin during shipment and handling. When a group of window shades is bundled, the projecting tubes offer a surprising amount of resistance to crushing. Without such protection, it is likely, if a bundle of shades were dropped dur -ing shipment, that at least some of the gudgeon pins Iwould be driven into the dowel or the dowel driven into the roller 15. At the time of the sale or installation, the projecting end may be torn from the part of the paper tube within the window shade material along the circular line 25a formed by seri-ations. (See FIGURE 3.) Tearing the projecting end would only be necessary when the roller assembly does not have to be shortened.

In shortening a shade to the proper size, only a few simple steps are required when the present invention is employed. First, the slat (not shown) in the lower edge of the shade is removed and easily cut to the proper length. Second, as illustrated in FIGURE 4, the shade in its rolled condition is rotated against a knife edge indicated at 35, or the knife rotated about the shade, until the knife passes through the shade material and the paper tube and moves into engagement with the wooden dowel. Third, as illustrated in FIGURE 5, the cut portion of the shade material indicated at 36 is slid off the wooden dowel. Since the pin end cap 29 is of no greater diameter than the dowel, and since the paper tube has an inside diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the dowel, no obstruction is presented to block the easy removal of the cut shade portion 36.

The last step required is illustrated in FIGURE 6 and consists in merely pushing the dowel into the hollow metal roller section 15. The force required to push the dowel into the metal roller section is slight enough to be done easily by hand. It must be great enough to overcome the resistance imparted by the slight embedding of dimples 17 in the surface of the dowel. The natural resilience of the wood prevents the inadvertent withdrawal of lthe dowel once it has been inserted to the proper distance in the shade roller.

The final `step of pushing the dowel into the metal shade roller can be performed just prior to the installation of the shade 4roller between the brackets. The roller can be held to the brackets and the adjustment made precisely to the distance between the brackets so that as perfect a fit of the roller to the brackets as possible can be made.

The invention is ideally suited for manufacture in three different sizes in order to provide all shade widths between approximately 18 inches and 48 inches. The shade material can be manufactured from standard width bolts of approximately 27, 36 and 48 inches. The following table is an example of the dimensions of the elements in the three sizes and the ranges of shade lengths which they provide.

Max. shade can be cut: Range of sizes possible It should be understood throughout that reference has been made to a paper tube 25 which forms an extension of the metal roller section 15. This tube can be manufactured of any cuttable material, for example plastic, although paper is preferred because it is so easily cut and because it has a resistance to twisting.

It should also be understood that the pin end cap 29 does not necessarily have to be of a diameter no larger than the diameter of the dowel although the relationship described is preferred in that it permits the cut portion of the shade material to be slid off the end of the shade rather than being unwound from the dowel after it has been cut.

It should be understood throughout that reference has to the combination of a wooden dowel telescoping into a metal roller. As shown in the embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 7-10, the invention is equally applicable to an all metal roller, an all plastic roller or a combination of metal and plastic, wherein one section telescopes into the other. The embodiment of FIGURES 7-10 is also illustrative of the fact that the invention embraces a combination in which the roller section containing the spring motor telescopes into the pin end section. In this embodiment the larger metal roller section indicated at 40 has a cap 41 and a cylindrical gudgeon pin 42 secured to its projecting end. Telescopi-ng into the pin end roller section 40 is a motor section 44 in which is mounted a spring motor 45 connected to a fiat spear 46 at its projecting end. As best illustrated in FIGURE l0, the roller sections 40 and 44 are similarly formed from sheet metal which is seamed as at 47 and 48 respectively. The inner roller section 44 has a longitudinal groove 49 adjacent its seam 48 into which the seam 47 of the outer roller section 40 is keyed. The cooperation between the seam 47 and the recess 49 prevents relative vrotation of the two roller sections. This is important for the inner roller section 44 containing the motor provides the drive for the shade and if it were freely rotatable as well as slidable with respect to the outer Iroller the drive would be ineffective to wind the shade.

A tube 50 of easily cuttable material such .as paper is slidable over the inner roller section 44. The shade material indicated at 51 is secured to the roller by an adhesive strip 52. The adhesive strip is secured directly to the outer roller 40 and to the paper tube 5t) thereby fixing the position of the paper tube 50 with respect to the outerrolle-r so that the tube 50 effectively forms an extension of the outer roller 40.

The shortening of the shade in this embodiment is effected by a series lof steps substantially identical to those previously described. After Ishortening the slat at the lower edge, `a cut is made through the shade material, the adhesive strip and the paper tube. That cut portion is slid from the end of the roller section 44 and the roller section 44 is pushed into the outer roller section 40 the desired distance.

As indicated above, a critical element in the combination is the cuttable tube which is secured to the larger roller section by the adhesive strip and in turn fixes that portion of the shade material which depends from the inner telescoping roller section. Without the tube the shade would tend to droop on the side of the telescoping inner section. The embodiments of FIGURES 11-12 and 13-14 illustrate equivalent structures which will function in a manner similar to the paper tube and which can be substituted for the paper tube without sacrifice of the functional characteristics of the shade. For reasons of economy in manufacture these functionally equivalent structures may not be as satisfactory as the simple paper tube, but they nevertheless must be considered to be within the spirit and scope of the invention.

In FIGURES 11 and 12 a dowel 60 is shown slidably mounted in telescoping relation in a hollow metal roller The shade material 62 is adhesively secured at its extreme edge only to the outer hollow roller 61 along the area indicated by the stippling 63. The shade material is then wrapped o-nce about the roller (as by winding the roller through a single revolution) and is adhesively secured to itself along the length of the roller as indicated by the stippling 64. In this way the shade has formed a cuttable tube of itself, the tube supporting that portion of the shade which hangs from the smaller roller section 60.

In FIGURES 13 and 14 a similar roller formed by a dowel 60 and tubular roller section 61 has the shade material 62 attached to it by an adhesive strip 66. In this embodiment the adhesive strip is, for example, approximately 6 inches wide so that it can be wrapped about the shade roller twice as illustrated in FIGURE 14. The strip 66 is secured at its extreme edge only to the hollow roller 61 along the area indicated by the stippling 67. In wrapping the adhesive strip upon itself two times a tube is formed which extends ove-r the telescoping dowel 60 and holds the shade material securely to the roller over that area Without any drooping and at the same time permitting the dowel 60 to telescope into the outer roller 61.

The embodiment of FIGS. 13 and 14 may be considered to be superior to that of FIGS. l1 and 12 for the adhesive strip 66 is preferably a heavy paper which is :less expensive than the shade material and which provides a sufficiently rigid tube to cover the shoulder 68 formed between the two telescoping sections. A plastic shade material overlying the shoulder as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1l and 12 would tend to show the outline of the shoul-der and would present an uneven surface when the shade is fully wound.

It should be understood that the structures of FIGS. 11-12 and 13-14 are interchangeable in that a short adhesive strip of FIGS. 13-14 could be adhesively se- 6 cured to the outer roller section and then adhesively secured to itself as illustrated in FIGS. 11-12. Similarly, a shade could be made with a sufficient excess of shade material which when wrapped upon itself would provide the supporting tube overlying Ithe telescoping inner end of the shade roller.

We claim:

1. In a window shade and roller combination the im provement comprising,

a first roller section, said first roller section being tubular,

a second roller section, said second section having one end thereof telescopingly seated Within said first section with a substantial portion thereof projecting axially from said first section.

a tube of readily cuttable material having an outside diameter approximately equal to the outside diameter of said first section and an inside diameter of a size to permit free sliding movement between the inside of said tube and said second section,

said tube surrounding said projecting portion of said second section and having one end thereof abutting the end of said first section surrounding said second section,

a Window shade of readily cuttable material, and,

Iadhesive means securing the upper end of said window sha-de to said first section and to said tube to lock said tube to said first section while maintaing said free sliding relationship between said second section and said tube, whereby upon the cutting of said shade and said tube in .a plane normal to the longitudinal axis of said roller that portion of said shade and said tube freed by said cutting may be simultaneously remove-d by sliding them off the outer end of said second section and whereby said second section thereafter may be telescoped within said first section While sliding freely within said tube.

2. A Window shade and roller combination as set forth in claim 1 in which said tube projects beyond the outermost end of said second roller section to protect it,

the outermost portion of said tube being separable from the remaining portion of said tube.

3. In a window shade and roller combination the improvement comprising,

.a tubular roller section,

a wooden roller section, said Wooden section having one end thereof telescopingly seated within said tubular section with a substantial portion thereof projecting axially from said tubular section,

a paper tube having an outside diameter approximately equal to the outside diameter of said tubular section and an inside diameter of a `size to permit free rotative and longitudinal sliding movement between the inner surface of said tube and the outer surface of said wooden section,

said tube surrounding said projecting portion of said wooden section and having one end thereof abu-tting the end of said tubular section at the juncture of said wooden section and said tubular section,

a window shade of readily cuttable material, and

f adhesive means securing the upper end of said window shade to both said tubular section and to said tube to lock said tube to said tubular section while maintaining said free sliding relationship between said wooden section and said tube, whereby upon the cutting of said window shade and said tube in la plane normal to the longitudinal yaxis of said roller that portion of said shade and said tube freed by said cutting may be simultaneously removed by sliding them off the outer end of said wooden section and whereby said second section thereafter may be telescoped within said first section while sliding freely within said tube.

(References on following page) 7 References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Ackley 160-323 Hoyt 160-263 5 Enezl 160-263 Kling 229-51 Kampas 160-263 X Watson 29148.4 Johnson 160-238 10 Thexton J 160-238 Peck et al. 29--148.4

Probst 160-400 Judd 160-400 Stevens 229-51 CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Primary Examiner.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, BENJAMIN BENDETT,

Examiner. 

1. IN A WINDOW SHADE AND ROLLER COMBINATION THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING, A FIRST ROLLER SECTION, SAID FIRST ROLLER SECTION BEING TUBULAR, A SECOND ROLLER SECTION, SAID SECOND SECTION HAVING ONE END THEREOF TELESCOPINGLY SEATED WITHIN SAID FIRST SECTION WITH A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION THEREOF PROJECTING AXIALLY FROM SAID FIRST SECTION. A TUBE OF READILY CUTTABLE MATERIAL HAVING AN OUTSIDE DIAMETER APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE OUTSIDE DIAMETER OF SAID FIRST SECTION AND AN INSIDE DIAMETER OF A SIZE TO PERMIT FREE SLIDING MOVEMENT BETWEEN THE INSIDE OF SAID TUBE AND SAID SECOND SECTION, SAID TUBE SURROUNDING SAID PROJECTING PORTION OF SAID SECOND SECTION AND HAVING ONE END THEREOF ABUTTING THE END OF SAID FIRST SECTION SURROUNDING SAID SECOND SECTION, A WINDOW SHADE OF READILY CUTTABLE MATERIAL, AND ADHESIVE MEANS SECURING THE UPPER END OF SAID WINDOW SHADE TO SAID FIRST SECTION AND TO SAID TUBE TO LOCK SAID TUBE TO SAID FIRST SECTION WHILE MAINTAING SAID FREE SLIDING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SAID SECOND SECTION AND SAID TUBE, WHEREBY UPON THE CUTTING OF SAID SHADE AND SAID TUBE IN A PLANE NORMAL TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID ROLLER THAT PORTION OF SAID SHADE AND SAID TUBE FREED BY SAID CUTTING MAY BE SIMULTANEOUSLY REMOVED BY SLIDING THEM OFF THE OUTER END OF SAID SECOND SECTION AND WHEREBY SAID SECOND SECTION THEREAFTER MAY BE TELESCOPED WITHIN SAID TUBE SECTION WHILE SLIDING FREELY WITHIN SAID TUBE. 